Shedding Tears
by Aisu Yuurei
Summary: Based around Rufus Shinra's life.
1. Chapter 1

**Shedding Tears**

**Chapter One**

Trickles of blood precede to a corner of the dark room. Sniffling of a small child in that corner. Blood pooled around him, drying to his white outfit. Fingers coated in the scarlet liquid, swollen teary eyes mixing with his wounds of abuse.

"Why...?" he sniffled out finally gazing at a deep cut.

Remembering back just a few minutes to when he just walked into the office where his "father" worked. Though who could really call him a father when he never spent any time with you? It was a lonely office, besides the mahogany desk and the tall slender black leather chair. Windows stretched as far as the room did on the walls closest to the desk. City lights and the smell of fresh Mako spread through the air.

"I did not give you permission to enter, Rufus." a voice protruded from the chair turned to the windows.

The chair swivelled around showing an overweight man that looked in his late forties early fifties. A cigar hung from his mouth and smoke wrapped around him. His burgundy suit and shoes show that someone took the time to clean and press them to perfection; his blonde facial hair showing signs of its age.

Rufus walked up to the mahogany desk and poked his head over the top; his bright glowing blue eyes reflected innocence, yet hatred toward the ugly man that stood in front of him. This very man that people called his father. He shoved a few pieces of sun colored hair away from his pale face, "why did you kill my mother? She did nothing to you! You killed her for no reason!"

The man raised an eyebrow at the boy and removed the cigar from his mouth to speak, "dear boy, do you still call that slut your mother? She was nothing more than someone in my way to ultimate power over the people. She didn't care the least bit about you. No one really does. You serve no real purpose in the world, unless it is to take my place as President of the Shinra Corporation, but by then you will be older and fully trained to be just like me," he slowly pronounced the last three words to Rufus, "now get out of my site you little runt...before I beat you."

"She loved me! You are the one she hated! You've changed! You just expect to kill people and get away with it by blaming it on others! It won't happen this time! I'll tell the public your evil secrets! You'll see!"

The man stood up quickly making it around the desk and grabbing Rufus' arm quickly, "you disobedient little brat! Do you think that the public will believe you over me? I highly doubt that you stupid boy!" he smacked him upside the head with a heavy fist, "you disobeyed me for the last time today and you need to be punished!"

He picked up Rufus by the neck and smacked him hard across the face, then threw him onto the floor without a care. Rufus backed up and tried to get away from him, however, luck wasn't on his side and he was kicked into the wall. The man picked him up by the hair and hit him harder across the face.

"I will teach you to be a better man," he dropped him, "with no emotion for the people to prey on and you will be the perfect leader," he threw him into a large vase that shattered on impact, "do you hear me boy?"

Rufus pulled his bloody body out of the vase, "you fat son of a bitch! I will hate you forever do YOU hear ME!?" he shouted.

"You stupid brat!" President Shinra punched him in the face and sent Rufus head first back onto broken glass.

Rufus laid there breathing heavy and tried to stand up. A guard then rushed in, "Sir! Is anything wrong?"

Shinra looked at Rufus trying to get to his feet, "No...he just had an accident. I'll take care of it."

Shinra picked him up and carried him to his room and threw him in there and shut the door.

Rufus coughed a little, "I'll get him back..."

He leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes to rest. Why couldn't he have a normal family, like of those in the slums? Did he really deserve to be beaten like this? Maybe, it should have been him that was pushed out the seventieth floor window, instead of his mother. Rufus sat there breathing lightly for a few minutes. He was disturbed by the incoming light of the opened door. Did he dare to look? That familiar clicking of the shoes, that very same pattern. The clicking stops..a shadow blocks the light.

"Stand up boy..." he feels a hand pull him up by the collar.

A green light surrounds him curing him of the bleeding cuts, and leaving light scars, "now clean yourself up."

Without a glance, Rufus gets up and goes over to the large wooden door, opens it and grabs another suit. A hand then squeezes his shoulder.

"You tell a single soul what happened and the punishment will be much worse next time." and with that he walked out.

_You'll beat me anyway._

A light tap echoed in the room.

"You may enter..." Rufus replied meekly.

A man with long black hair stuck his head in before entering fully. He wore a formal black outfit and his eyes shined a beautiful brown.

"Are you okay, sir?" he asked looking over Rufus' tattered clothing.

Rufus ran over by him and wrapped his arms around his waist, "Oh Tseng you're here! I thought you said you had business?"

Tseng patted Rufus' head then smiled, "I came back as soon as I could to see you, sport!"

"If you would have been a little sooner you could of saved me the pain."

"Did he beat you again?" Tseng looked over the scars and bruises.

"He said that he would until I become like him. Personally. I don't think I can gain three hundred pounds and I'd look pretty funny with facial hair at this age!" his meek smile was erased, "He called mom a slut..."

Tseng began using his magic to seal up and heal all of the cuts and bruises, "Your mother was far from a slut, she brought smiles to everyone's face and seemed very capable of becoming president."

"I know but that's the way he's showing her to the public. Why can't you adopt me? Please. please, please?"

"I'd put your life in danger though. Being a Turk they could easily look into my weaknesses and kill me off, but I'm more worried on what they would do to you, besides, you'll be a great president, there is no way a kid like you will turn into him! You'll be the skinniest president ever though. I mean your all bone and skin!" Tseng poked Rufus' belly.

Rufus stuck out the bottom lip and glared at him, "Hey I eat!"

Tseng laughed, "Boy I'll say you're the first person I've seen drink five bottles of pop and demolish three boxes of donuts without throwing up! But I guess that was because you didn't have sweets in a while!"

"You had other business to discuss with me?" Rufus pushed the subject aside.

Tseng cleared his throat and got a serious look again, "Yes, the other Turks you wanted are here. But ones not talking much at all and all I can get out of the other is cussing..."

"Nice selection process...tell me should I be more careful around the silent one? You know..quiet people are almost always more leathal."

"No actually I think you should just watch what you say to him. I think the loud one is the one you have to watch out for. He's a bomb waiting to explode."


	2. Chapter 2

**Shedding Tears**

**Chapter Two**

Rufus followed Tseng out of the room after being patched up and getting a change of clothes. They walked down the hallway quietly, he ignored the stares of the people and kept concentrated on what was in front of him. Not all of the scrapes and bruises went away and Rufus was pretty sure some of the people on this floor heard what happened in the office, but none dared to say anything because of the presents of Tseng.

"Ignore them, Rufus. Everyone that works on this floor is so far up the President's ass and so prissy it's not funny."

"But Tseng, don't you work up here too? Doesn't that make you just as bad as them?" Rufus kept a straight face.

Tseng looked down at Rufus and attempted to say something several times before smiling,"Your...mother wanted me here. She told me to keep a good eye on you. So I shot for the top of the Turks."

Rufus stopped at the elevator and pushed the down button, then turned around and glared at the few people that were still staring. If they still worked here when he was President he'd fire them, no questions about it. When the elevator finally came to the top, everyone had gone back to their duties. Rufus sighed and walked into the elevator pushing the button to the ground floor then turned to look over the city of Midgar. He placed his hands on the glass, and watched the night sky hug tightly around the large city. One day this would be his, the only thing that scared him was the possibility of becoming just like his father. Ruling by power, all of the people hating him, despising him every moment of the day. His thoughts were interrupted by Tseng's hand resting on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine." he said in a calming voice.

Rufus meekly smiled,"I know I will be I was just surveying over what will soon be mine."

Tseng smiled and stepped out of the elevator first when it came to a stop. Rufus followed looking at the two men that stood in front of him. One was a tall bald man that stood perfectly straight and his suit was pressed to perfection. He liked the way this man looked and had heard many good things about him, like that he scored near the top of the guard ranks. The only thing that set him apart from the others was his extreme loyalty and his ability to finish any task set in front of him. Rufus walked up to the man and looked up at him.

"What's your name?" he walked around the man.

"Uh..Randy..sir." the guy watched him walk around him.

Rufus stopped in front of him and looked into his eyes, he could tell just by looking at him that he had a family. Actually, Rufus had read the records so he knew that Randy had family. The man's wife was pretty well known throughout lower parts of Midgar. The records also stated that he also had a son, perhaps in the future he'd look him up. He continued his gaze to the other man whom had a cigarette hanging delicately from the edges of his lips. Rufus could already tell this man was going to be a pain. This was Rhett, also a guard, though he was known world over to be a big pain in the ass, his skills were way above normal.

Tseng walked over to Rhett and ripped the cigarette from him. Rufus shook his head and waved his hand.

"They'll do, but then again it's not up to me to make all the decisions. It's his choice." Rufus looked up at the two men,"You better kiss ass if you wanna get the job."

With that Rufus walked off away from the two now flabbergasted men. He walked outside and looked up at the sky. He knew that the President would be down soon to inspect possibly two new Turks. Rufus rubbed a sore spot on his cheek, he wanted that bastard to pay, he wanted him to suffer. He walked over to the side of the building and sat down on the ground. It was here that his mother died, after seventy floors of falling. Seventy stories to watch herself fall and realize that she would never see her child again, and it was seventy stories up that Rufus had seen her hit the ground. He didn't know which was worse, living the aftermath, or watching your death come closer until the end. What made him even more angry was that his "father" never gave her a burial, he just commanded the scientists to completely dispose of her. He looked up at the stars one final time, he knew she would watch over him. Rufus got up, dusted himself off and walked back inside past the President and to the glass elevator. He glanced briefly back at him then stepped into it and hit the up button. He would rest for now, and think of ways to rid himself of this pest.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rufus woke up to the annoying bright sun in his eyes, he squinted and slowly sat up from the bed. He had fallen asleep without thinking of a single way to get rid of the President. The only thing that he could do was just wait, patience was an ability that he inherited from his mother. It would be a while, but he would just have to let time takes it's course, or wish that someone would do all the dirty work for him. Rufus would hate to get his hands stained with blood so early. He got up and dressed slowly, not wanting to leave the safety of his room so soon. Watching his reflection in the mirror, he ran his fingers through his hair then walked out of the room. He was bearly acknowledged by the guards in the hallway, but he could really careless about anything today. He just wanted a day without grief, or even a first glance at the sperm donor. It was down to the Training Facility for him, he wished to see if either of the two he seen yesterday actually passed. Finally making there he looked around, only hearing the humming of the lights.

"Do you need something, sir?" the voice made Rufus jump a little.

He turned around to see Randy sitting behind him. Rufus looked him over inquisitively before finally relaxing again.

"Don't do that again," his eyes narrowed slightly, "I guess seeing you in the Training Facility means that you got the job?"

Randy nodded, "Sorry sir, and yes I did."

Rufus turned motioning for him to follow him, "So I take it you scored high?"

He followed silently for a few moments, "Well, yes, but Rhett did better by a few points, sir."

Rufus stopped and quickly spun around looking up at him, "I do hope your joking," Randy shook his head and Rufus turned back around then continued walking again, "I guess I misjudged him."

Randy straightened a part of his uniform before speaking up again, "I did better when it came to basic knowledge, but when it came to combat, he seemed more fit. I was told that I was too soft and submissive when it came to leadership qualities."

Rufus stopped in front of the Combat Practice room and turned pointing a finger at him, "That is a quality that my father will try to extract from you. I want you to never change. That is a direct order from me. Do you hear me? The last thing we need here are more over demanding idiots."

He smiled as he saluted him, "Yes, sir."

Rufus pushed the door open and walked in to see Rhett drop to his knees coated in sweat and blood. Looking over to the other side of the room he seen someone he had never seen before, a young man. His bright silver hair hung over his body glistening with sweat. His languid face focused on Rhett as he tightly gripped a rod, a typical Turk weapon. The only thing that was out of place was the man sitting in the corner gripping his clipboard grinning; his eyes completely transfixed on the man.

Rufus raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "Professor Hojo what are you doing here?"

Hojo clutched the board to his chest glaring at the boy, "None of your business boy. I'm done here. Let's go," he stood up quickly leaving the room.

Rufus inwardly shuddered, he never really liked Hojo; there was just something about him that never really sat right. The man was a genius as he had heard countless times, but that gave him no rights to be liked. He was known throughout Midgar as a bastard, always in thought never sharing anything. He looked at the silver haired man, who to his surprise was gazing right back at him. His eyes glowing a bright green, Rufus suddenly felt as though he would get sucked into them and quickly averted his gaze. That man made him feel like an inferior being, as if Rufus were to take a step toward him, he'd be instantly killed. The man casually discarded the rod and quietly followed Hojo. After he left the room seemed lighter and a bit more cheerful.

Rhett collapsed onto the ground, "That bastard seriously gave me the creeps. It was as if he had no soul."

Rufus still staring at the doorway muttered, "That's what happens when you stay around Hojo too long."

Randy pulled his gaze from the doorway, "Who was that, sir?"

Rufus walked over to the rod and picked it up looking it over, "I'm...not quite sure. I've heard rumors of some powerful new SOLDIER, I guess that might have been him."

Rhett took ahold of the helping hand Randy held out,"That was Sephiroth, top ranking SOLDIER."

---------------------------------------

11-26-07 Note: I plan on finishing Chapter 3 very soon (been busy), I've got a big chuck of it started I just...sorta forgot where I was going with it. I thank you guys for the reviews I've gotten back on track because of them, I need to go though some ideas in my head and then all be all set. Also, for some reason it's not showing that I update...help anyone? Again, thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**Shedding Tears**

**Chapter 3**

It was several months later and Rufus was staring deep into his cup of hot chocolate. The President had a big press conference in Junon, and figured that Rufus would make him look better in the eyes of the people. Rufus looked about the extravagant restaurant, it was furnished with only the best, shipped directly Wutai. It wasn't his favorite place to be but seeing as how he was with "dad" he needed to look his best. Reporters were all over the President swamping him with questions left and right about the newly finished canon. Of course, he was weaving around some of the questions, some of them even blatant lies, but it did keep the reporters happy. They didn't bother with Rufus, seeing him as only a kid they figured him useless. The only real reason he didn't put up a big fight was the fact that Tseng would be coming along, as his escort, which pleased him. Rhett had the pleasure of guarding the over-sized blimp, his hands were currently full with trying to keep the reporters at bay and keeping his attitude in check. Rufus thought of that as a miracle all in itself.

"You know their thought of as some of the most down right evil people, but they can't see all those obvious lies." Tseng spoke up sitting down beside him.

Rufus took a large gulp of his drink still watching the crowd, "He's the President, they have to believe him. If they don't funds are cut, not good for business."

Tseng stood up quickly before lightly nudging him in the side, journalist. Rufus quickly brushed his hair back and took in a deep breath before smiling as the woman approached him.

"Hello Rufus, we don't get to see much of you do we?" the woman smiled brightly at him, "Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?"

_Yes._

"No, not at all, please ask anything you want." he kept calm inviting the woman to sit down.

She quickly sat taking out a small notepad, "Well, my name is Narisa, I'm from the Junon Daily."

_No doubt wanting something from the President. Funds? Popularity?_

He continued to smile, "Of course I know all about the Junon Daily it's one of the most popular papers here."

For a brief moment she seemed at a loss for words, "The...public wants to know more about their future President. How old are you Rufus?"

"I'm eleven."

"Oh your getting so old and might I add even more handsome as the days go by," she winked at him.

_Geez woman. I'm eleven not four, flattery will get you no where with me._

"What grade are you going into? Or are you perhaps home tutored?"

Rufus took a small sip before calmly answering, "I'm done with schooling. I finished last year, I guess I'm not like most children."

Yet again the woman seemed at a loss of words, "Oh my, I guess I can skip all the little things and go straight to the more important questions. As you might know your father is one of the most popular Presidents we've had, are you confident enough to fill those shoes?"

_Popular? Please...an chocobo has more class than him._

"Well like father like son. I'm sure I'll do just as good as he does if not better. If you'll excuse me I'm feeling a little..tired, I hate to leave you so soon perhaps you should ask my father about the Tax increase."

She blinked, "...Tax...increase?"

Rufus smiled, "He hasn't said anything yet? Surely there has to be something coming up that canon costed well near twelve billion gil."

At once Narisa's eyes lit up then immediately turned and dashed back to the President attacking him with question after question. Soon after all the reports crowded around him begging for answers. Rufus smiled into his cup wishing he could bust up laughing, but swallowed it with the rest of his drink. He looked up at Tseng with an innocent look on his face.

"Far from," Tseng took him by the hand and started making his way toward the exit, "Perhaps we should leave. You know your father's not going to be happy."

"Call it payback and since when has he ever been happy?" Rufus allowed himself to be pulled from the restaurant.

Tseng looked at him unable to scold him, "Well, what do we do now?"

"Fight me." Rufus said calmly.

Tseng stopped dead in his tracks, "Fight...you?"

"I want to learn how to defend myself," Rufus continued walking.

"I'm not sure that your father would agree with me teaching you. Don't you have instructors for that?" Tseng walked in front of him.

"They're not training me quick enough. I want to learn from the best.." Rufus looked up at the sky.

"But I'm not the best, I'm sure that there's stronger people that would train you much better."

"Tseng," Rufus grabbed a fist full of his suit and pulled him down to his level, "I want you to train me, only you, I trust that your skills are the best," he let go of him and started walking away then stopped and turned his head around,"...please."

Tseng's eyes widen briefly then he smiled and walked over to him placing a hand on his head,"Fine."

Rufus smiled and ran ahead,"Come on let's go somewhere secluded."

Rufus continued running ahead when something dashed out of the shadows and snatched him up within seconds. Tseng quickly ran after, going down the alley way that the shadow darted down, but found nothing when he reached it.

"Dammit.." Tseng tightly gripped his phone.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Rhett was sucking his third cigarette down like water when he received a call, he sighed praying it wasn't Randy begging for a break. He slowly reached for the switch on his headset and turned it on, then returned to his cigarette.

"Rhett...I need your help...are you busy? Tseng's voice sounded rather distraught.

"Anything to get away from my current duties," he flicked his cigarette and glanced in at the President.

"Rufus...was...he was...kidnapped," Rhett could tell that Tseng was running.

"Alright then, stay calm where are you?" Rhett remained calm.

"I'm...in the side alley by the Materia Store." Tseng stopped to take a breath.

"Stay there catch your breath and stay calm I'll be there in a minute,"Rhett hung up and snuck away before either Randy or the President knew he was missing.

--------------------------------------------------------------

Rufus was thrown down into a corner with his arms tied tightly behind his back, he was bearly aware of what happened. He looked about the dark room and figured that he had to be in the poorest section of Junon. There were five men in the room the smallest one that took him was leaning in a shadowed corner.He was approached by a larger man, that reminded him of his father, he shuddered and looked up at him with a glare. The man looked him over for a brief moment before quickly grabbing a large chunk of his hair and pulling him up to look at him.

"So how much you think daddy will pay for you," the man breathed in his face and grinned.

Rufus could clearly smell alcohol on his breath he continued to glare,"Not as much as you think your going to get."

"A smart ass little brat are you?" he let go of his hair and turned to the others, "What do you think? Should we just kill the little freak?"

Most of them laughed then the one in the shadows walked out and looked down at Rufus like he was mud on his shoes, the man was horribly disfigured, scars over his entire face. He casually walked over to Rufus and stuck the point of his knife under Rufus' chin. Rufus didn't cringe as he felt the tip lightly pierce his skin. A light trickle ran down the knife's edge the man brought the knife up and licked the blood off.

"I think we should torture him like Shinra tortures us.." the man finally spoke up.

Rufus remained quiet as the other men laughed evilly, obviously liking the plan too. He wanted to scream, he wanted to cry, but he was a Shinra and remained quiet. Not begging for them to spare him, not telling them that his father wouldn't even care. Not that anyone would really care...right now he just wanted..

"Tseng..."

------------------------------------------------------------

**Side Note: **Well I finally got Chapter 3 up, thanks to Belldandy for pushing me into putting up the chapter. I'll start working on the next chapter soon, I promise. If I don't I give my readers permission to hold me at gun point (if your so inclinde to). As you might guess, the next chapter is going to be a bit...bloody...and it'll be a kinda first time thing for me. So laugh, cry, eat pudding or what not, but if you eat pudding you must share with me!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When Rhett finally made it to Tseng, he was pacing in a tight circle. Rhett watched him for a moment before patting himself down and pulling out his pack of cigarettes.

"Here I think you need these more than I do."

Tseng eyed them for a moment before looking at Rhett, "How can you stay so calm? What if they killed him?"

Rhett shook his head and lit a cigarette casually, "They won't kill him, they want compensation for him."

"How can you be so sure?"

He looked up at the sky, "Because I've been in this situation three times before this, it's something you gotta expect when you work for Shinra," as he began walking he reached in his coat pocket and took out a picture giving it to Tseng.

It was the picture of a boy, couldn't have been any older than Rufus. He had bright red hair and the same devious grin that was usually plastered on Rhett's face. Tseng looked over at Rhett who was calm and serious for once in his life.

"The first time was when he was six. He was playing with a group of kids at the park. He was picked out of the crowd and swiped up. I was a nervous wreck, and I searched for two days straight before finding him. I beat the crap out of all of them and found out that they only did it because I was working for Shinra. They figured they'd get Gil out of me."

Tseng followed silently for a few minutes then looked around, "You seem to know your way well around here."

"Yeah I grew up on these streets, I know most of the gangs, in fact, I used to belong to one of them. But one day when I was fifteen I tried mugging this kid and he ended up beating the crap out of me. Eventually we became best friends, he changed my life, you know him. Randy?"

"Oh, so you've known him most of your life?"

"Yeah our kids play together all the time, he stopped a brief moment to get his bearings straight, "We got a few places to stop. I just hope we get there before they try to break him."

Tseng paused looking up at the sky, "Rufus, where the hell are you?"

Rufus sat pushed into the corner as far he could go, trying to get away from them as much as possible, but with bound hands and being slightly confused it's all he could do. The men were slowly surrounding him. They all had a sinister grin on their face except the man that had planted the suggestion, he was leaning on the wall glaring at Rufus. He was pulled quickly to his feet by the rope binding his arms. The large man pushed him towards the scar-covered man who put his knife close to Rufus' face.

"While you sit in your plush environment with your overly rich father, we suffer and fight to survive every day. Not once has Shinra offered to help any of us."

Rufus remained quite as the man glared, he knew of the problems the people had with Shinra, however most stayed quiet out of fear of being killed. The only people that truly supported Shinra were the people that were very well off. There was more to this man than what he showed, "You worked for Shinra?" he remained outwardly calm.

The man ran his knife slowly over Rufus' chest, easily ripping through the fabric and leaving a light red mark, "I was a guard for twenty-five fucking years. I was falsely accused of stealing Gil and to punish me they killed my family and I was jailed and tortured."

Rufus winced at the stinging sensation, he wondered if Tseng would even come to get him. Did he even care? Or would he just leave it up to his father?

The man, noticing that he'd lost Rufus' attention, poked the knife under his chin causing the child to jolt back to attention and return an evil glare. The man spit on him and looked at the larger man, "he's yours boss, looking at him makes me sick,"

Boss walked over to Rufus popping his knuckles and grinning, "Don't think that we'll go easy on you're because you're a child."

After the beating started it felt as though it would never stop, they continued yelling obscenities. He didn't cry he merely took the beating as though it was his father. He would rather not have his father see this side of the people. Surely his father would secretly kill all those that opposed Shinra and that would lead to a massacre. As Boss brought his knee into Rufus' stomach he could feel a few ribs bust. They backed off from him a little as he coughed up a bit of blood. The beat was, fortunately for Rufus, cut short when someone whom he'd never seen ran up the stairs and into the room.

"Shit the Turks are here, scatter!"

Unfortunately, their informant was a bit to late and the man went collapsing to the ground. Rhett stepped over, or rather on the man, as he passed looking at the group. Tseng followed in him into the room his gaze automatically dropping to Rufus that was on his knees looking up at them bruised, confused, and bloody. Tseng glared at the men, the room suddenly became very dry static crackled through the air. The gang looking around briefly before being electrocuted by mysteriously appearing lightening. Their charred bodies falling to the ground occasionally twitching with electricity. Tseng dashed to Rufus quickly untying his arms and picking him up. Rhett cautiously crouched by the bodies, quickly moving back as a bolt tried to go for him.

"Overkill much?" he went the long way around the corpses.

Rufus looked at them trying to smile but failed, "You came..."

They both nodded and just before Rufus passed out he felt Tseng lightly pull him into a hug. Rufus cuddled into him as much as he could without being in pain and let himself slip into unconsciousness.

* * *

After Note: Yay! Finally, this chapter was like constipation for the mind. I wanted to get this out so bad but I didn't know where to go with it. I know it's shorter than the others but the other chapters will be longer. I've got the outlines done for the next three. Best thing that came out of my insomnia! I know there's gonna be errors in this one, I'll re-read it much later after celebrating. Again -bows- I am sorry this one took so long. I actually had to listen to the soundtrack and replay some of the game to get into the FF7 spirit to do this chapter. If it sucks...don't worry! The next few will be much better. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Rufus woke up to the feeling of being stabbed with something, he tried to quickly push away, but was held in place with a steady hand. Opening his eyes the rest of the way, Rufus found himself staring at Professor Hojo. After relaxing himself a bit, he gazed about the room, quickly remembering his rescue. He was in the Infirmary at Shinra Headquarters, Tseng must have brought him here after he passed out. But why not the hospital in Junon? Feeling a little dizzy he laid back down and stared at Hojo opening his mouth to ask, but was intercepted.

"Two days..." he tossed the needle away and took Rufus by the chin, staring into his eyes.

He opened his mouth to speak once more.

"The President didn't want to broadcast your foolish mistakes, so you were brought to me. The reason you feel dizzy is because I gave you a heavy dose of Jenova cells to help speed up recovery, No, you cannot see Tseng because he is currently busy with more important matters and you must stay in bed under my supervision for another week. Now shut up and let me work." Hojo continued looking over him.

Rufus clamped his mouth shut glaring at Hojo, wondering if he, on top of being a genius and an asshole, was also a mind reader. Then decided against wanting to test the theory stayed quiet. After processing everything that Hojo just said he finally was able to speak, "Jenova...Cells?"

Hojo continued his work now completely ignoring Rufus. Any other person in the world would be better than being stuck in a room with him, Rufus sighed and laid back into the pillows letting Hojo poke and prod him till his heart was content. No use trying to stop him, it was going to happen regardless of what anyone thought. His eyes drifted to the window as he tried to recall what all happened to him, but was bringing up nothing but a blur. He would have to talk to Tseng later; his thoughts were quickly interrupted by a movement in the corner. He gazed over there and to his surprise seen someone he hadn't seen in almost forever, not that he really wanted to see him again.

"Sephiroth?" his voice came out like a squeak.

Sephiroth shifted his gaze from Hojo to Rufus, "Yes?"

Even speaking normally, Rufus was for reasons unknown to him very intimidated by him clearing his throat he tried talking again, "May I ask what you are doing here?"

Sephiroth motioned toward Hojo, "I've got business with the Professor, and I figured that I'd pay you a visit and decided to wait for Hojo to be done."

Rufus relaxed back into the pillows again still watching Sephiroth. He never figured that he actually cared about anyone, then again, maybe he was just doing this to gain favor. He shook his head, that didn't sound like something Sephiroth would do. Rufus closed his eyes and sighed, he worried to much for his age. At this rate, he'd have gray hair by his twentieth birthday. Feeling as though he was being watched, he opened his eyes again. Hojo was looking at him, only this time he didn't have a cranky look on his face. He pulled the blanket up a little around Rufus and backed up watching him again.

"You need to stop worrying so much and rest," he began gathering up his equipment and turned to leave, "I'll check on you again in another hour."

"Since when have you cared about anyone's well being?" Rufus narrowed his eyes curiously.

Hojo merely grunted as he walked out the door. He felt a hand rest carefully on his arm and turned to look Sephiroth directly in the eyes.

"You know he's right, worry about your future later and rest."

"But, I was injected with...Jenova cells. Is that really a healthy thing? Will I be alright?"

"Well according to reports it's alright. I've got some in myself and I'm fine, besides it was never Hojo's intent to inject you. It was your fathers. You'll feel a little weak for a while, but after a week you should be fine. So take this time to rest and relax from your duties."

Rufus, finally giving in, nodded as he was laid back and tucked in the rest of the way. Sephiroth smiled and silently walked out of the room shutting the door with an even quieter snick. He laid their staring at the ceiling pondering what he was going to say to his father once he got out of the infirmary. Eventually, sleep took over him and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

The week went by with relative quickness, and Rufus was glad to finally be released from Hojo's care. He walked around the building slowly watching over everyone, but no one really seemed to notice him. Eventually he made his way to the roof and looked up at the sky. It figured that no one even seemed to notice that he was gone, he really didn't expect them to notice. He sat on the very edge of the building and looked down at the ground, watching the people enter and leave the building. Well, not people but dots, from way up here anyways.

"You know Tseng would have a heart attack if he seen you sitting there."

Rufus quickly turned around to see Sephiroth sit down next to him quietly. He turned his impassive face back toward the city. They sat in silence watching over the city, finding the quiet atmosphere a little awkward Rufus looked over at Sephiroth. The wind was running through wisps of his hair gently and the sun beamed off of him making him seem, radiant, almost unhuman. He was...cool, and Rufus admired him; he was able to put up with all the crap everyone put him through, everyday, even his father. Rufus propped up one knee leaning his chin on it he returned his gaze back to Midgar.

"How do you do it?"

Sephiroth looked at him, "Do what?"

"Put up with all the crap Shinra puts you through. Surely a weaker man would have cracked by now."

Sephiroth sat quietly for a moment his face becoming very serious, almost depressed, "I wasn't always like this it takes a lot of time, patience, resistance...I was a lot like yourself when I was younger."

"Meaning?" he looked back at him.

"I think you know what I mean. I was brought up by Hojo, he is by no means a patient man."

"Oh, I see. So then what stops you from killing him everyday?"

Sephiroth smiled, "Not much."

Rufus smiled half heartedly and watched as Sephiroth got up, "Duty calls?"

He nodded dusting himself off, "Yeah I was asked by Tseng to go check on you and I was just about to go on duty," he started to walk away but stopped and turned his head, "Oh yeah. I almost forgot to tell you happy birthday I'll have to get you a present later. Extra special I promise."

As he walked off he nodded to Tseng as he made his way to Rufus, who had quickly moved away from the edge. Rufus had forgotten that his birthday was today. Tseng stopped in front of Rufus smiling, he sat a hand on his head and looked around.

"Everything alright?"

Rufus looked at him suspiciously, "To the point, Tseng."

"Feeling a little feisty today? Comes with old age, come on I got something I wanna show you something." he started walking off.

Rufus followed slowly wondering what he had planned. They made it toward one of the lower floors and stopped in front of a rarely used room. Tseng slowly opened the door revealing Rhett and Randy and an extremely delicious looking cake. Rufus looked at them and smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Rufus." Tseng smiled.

"You know you guys really didn't have to do this.." he eyed the cake.

"Who deserves this more than you. You've gone through a lot." Rhett grinned.

"We've got something for you." Randy walked over to him.

Rufus looked at the moving object in Randy's arm unsure if he really wanted to take it. He looked at the guys then at the small creature, he slowly took it.

"This is a..."

"A Guard Hound...we found him wandering alone and figured he'd be perfect for you." Tseng looked at Rufus.

"Little bastard bit me about a hundred times." Rhett held his bandaged hand.

Rufus looked over him, he was about the same size as his arm. He was a brilliant dark blue, he looked up at Rufus innocently.

"Dark Nation..."

"Dark Nation?" Tseng looked at Rufus.

"Yes. I think that it suits him." Rufus looked up at Tseng.

"He's yours make sure you take good care of him." Randy smiled.

Rufus, for once, smiled genuinely, today was, not so bad of a day. In fact, he had a wonderful day and he would make the most of it. He spent the rest of the time doing something he hadn't done in a while, being a normal kid. Just a normal twelve year old stuffing his face with junk food, spending time with friends, and worrying about nothing. Afterwards, he sat in his room still at headquarters, holding his stomach and moving as little as possible. Dark Nation sat by his head attacking and chewing on any hair that moved. Today was special, it was a turning point, from this day on there would be no more shedding tears.

* * *

Afternote: So what do y'all think? This chapter came out fairly easy I hope that everyone likes it. Considering that March 8th is/was my birthday I figured I'd give out Rufus' as well. Hope you enjoyed it! The next chapter is gonna introduce two more people into the story...Original to the game people...mind you. Hope that I get them right. -crosses fingers- 


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Rufus awoke the next morning feeling as if he was being watched, he carefully opened his eyes only to gazed directly into a pair of lucent green eyes inches from his face. He guessed by the even brighter red hair who's child this was, and slowly pushed the boy away from his face. Rufus sat up and rubbed his eyes, then went back to looking at the grinning child.

"What?" he asked lazily.

"I'm Reno, I'll be spending today with you!" he beamed.

"Says who?"

"My father, he said that you could use a friend."

Rufus ignored him as he got dressed and did his hair, he guessed something like this was bound to happen as yesterday was to good of a day, something had to go wrong today. He walked out of the room with Reno following behind, he needed to have a talk with Rhett. Any child with even half of his energy was bound to be more than a handful. After minutes of, according to several guards and secretaries, missing him by mere seconds managed to corner him in the cafeteria.

He pointed at the temporarily distracted Reno, "What is this and why is it following me?"

"You know who he is, I figured he could keep you busy today, maybe lighten your mood a little," Rhett sputtered out as he chewed his sandwich.

Rufus raised an eyebrow looking back at Reno, "You can't possibly mean he is baby sitting me."

"Kinda, I mean he's a bit young but he can defiantly hold his own, I'm suppose to be watching you, but I've got other plans."

"Your leaving me to your child?! I'm not six I can watch myself, much better than he can."

Rhett stood up and started walking out of the cafeteria, "Give him a test run I'm sure you'll be in for quite the surprise."

Rufus grinned looking at Reno, "Test run huh."

Rufus guided him down to the Training Facility where some guards were training. Rufus looked over at Reno who was looking around curiously.

"I want to see what you are capable of, Reno." he walked over to a resting guard.

Reno looked at the guard, "You want me to fight him? I don't want to embarrass him in front of all these people."

"Your pretty smug, but he's gone through years of extensive training. Don't think that you can just squeeze your way out of this with tough talk."

Reno smirked and shrugged, his face remaining calm as he approached the guard. Rufus stepped to the side and leaned up against the wall. After a few sarcastic comments from both, they began to fight. At first it seemed clear that the guard would win, however the tides quickly changed and Reno made a complete idiot out of him. Shortly there after Reno had exhausted the man and had knocked him out, how he stood over him gloating his victory. Rufus shook his head and sighed.

"See? I can handle anything." he walked back over by Rufus.

Rufus slowly walked out of the room and down the hall, wondering what to do with him. He didn't want to be followed the entire day. He walked into the elevator and looked at Reno.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Reno looked at him innocently, "Why do you hate me?"

Rufus sighed and leaned on the elevator wall looking at the ceiling, "I don't hate you. I'm just...not used to people. Your just following me around because your father told you to, you don't have to."

Reno looked at the floor, "I'm not doing this because I have to I do this because I want to," he inched a little closer toward him, "Listen, I don't know what all you've went through, but I can imagine it's been a lot. I know that the president's not as good as he makes himself look. I just want you to know that I'll be on your side, no matter what...so what'cha say...friends?"

Rufus looked over at him with an eyebrow raised he smirked and lightly shoulder him away, "Don't get all sentimental on me."

"There's a lot more to me that what you see. Come on friends?"

Rufus shook his head, "Your not going to give up on this are you?"

"No I'm no..."

Luckily before Rufus had to show anymore emotion that he wanted to the elevator door opened and another kid sat there. Before he could question who he was Reno butted in and jumped in front of him.

"Rude! Long time no see!" he grabbed him by the arm and drug him in, "How was your vacation? How's your mom? Did you bring me anything?"

"I take it you know him?" Rufus looked at them.

"Oh yeah this is my best friend Rude, he doesn't talk much he's more of a listener. He was on vacation in Costa Del Sol with his mom."

"I...see...well hello Rude" Rufus shook Rude's hand.

Rude merely nodded and let Reno continue to rattle on about different things. Eventually the ended up back down in the Training Facility only this time it was Reno and Rude doing the fighting. Rufus enjoyed watching them beat up on each other.

The sun was setting on Midgar and Rufus, Reno and Rude were all on the roof watching it fall. Rufus contemplated the day wondering how today was, he wasn't entirely sure what to think. Somehow, he still felt empty, depressed, and alone. Reno and Rude looked over at him with slight concern on their faces, along with bumps and bruises. In the end it was a tie and they ended up knocking themselves out and Rufus had to pull them to the infirmary to get patched up.

"Life is full of challenges it takes a lot of patience, willpower, and strength to survive. If you give up now your just a weak and pathetic soul. Is that they way you want people to remember you?" Rude leaned on his knee still looking at Rufus.

Rufus looked over at him, "No I don't, but I'm still alive am I not? Don't think that I haven't tried. That I'm still trying, it's just..."

Reno smiled, "Don't worry we'll be here for you! Just incase you do anything stupid!"

Rufus smiled, "I'll make sure of that, I'll make sure that you two get jobs here when your older."

Reno got wide eyed, "You can do that?"

"I can do anything, I'll just take time. Think of this as a token of my friendship."

--

**Afternote: **Sorry I took to long, life's been squirting lemon juice in my eyes. No I'm not gonna go all depressive on you. I can say that I really didn't care for this chapter. I'm sure there are errors, lots of error's and I'll proof all over it later. The next chapter will be taking a time jump foreward. A fairly big jump but just the same I hope that you'll enjoy it. I love reviews so keep 'em comin'! Let's hope I get them out faster -smacks self-


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The cerise liquid was finally clouding his mind, and drowning away his emotions. Rufus gazed deep into his glass. The memories were beginning to recede again, which was good as he didn't feel like taking another trip down memory lane. He leaned back completely into his seat, his glass still in hand watching the bubbles travel to the surface.

He glanced about his surroundings, it wasn't his choice for this rich atmosphere. His eyes drifted to his company, the bright blonde in the red dress caught his attention first; a drink was held delicately in one hand while a cigarette was flung around wildly in the other as she explained something. Scarlet, his eyes narrowed, the woman's attire screamed whore, but contrary to everyone's opinion she actually earn her position as Head of Weapon Development. Still, that didn't mean that he cared for her at all, she was a twisted, bitter individual. Heidegger was next to her with that obnoxious laugh, he was Head of Shinra's Public Safety Maintenance. Heidegger and Scarlet had the most influence of what happened in Midgar, to much influence if you asked Rufus. Heidegger was a rather large man with an extremely short temper, however, he always managed to keep himself calm around Scarlet. Rufus often pondered if they had a secret life on the side, but shuddered at the mental images. On Rufus' extremely close left was Palmer, he was...special, which was putting it as nicely as he could. He was a short fat man that acted more like a child then an employee, how he ever became Head of the Space Exploration Department would forever remain a mystery. He was almost always at Rufus' side begging for things or complementing him at every chance he got. Rufus took a deep drink of his wine, Palmer would be lucky if he reached his next birthday before he strangled him with his own intestines. Now the only real person he could stomach here was Reeve, Head of Urban Development, he was always full of ideas and was without a doubt the hardest worker in Shinra. However, at the moment Reeve was quietly sipping his drink and listening to Scarlet. The only thing Rufus didn't like about him was that he wasn't nearly bold enough.

Rufus took another sip of his drink and looked back into it, watching the bubbles. Today was another bad day, he felt like jumping off the nearest tall building, or anything else that would even hint at the chance at death. He had to put up with his damn father again, still treating him poorly after all these years. He was twenty-four and more than capable of successfully running Shinra, in fact much better than it was currently. They often bickered over Shinra and it's many problems, but his father never took any of his thoughts into consideration. He felt, useless, to say the least, as if he had never aged in all these years. Maybe it wasn't him that needed to die, but his father, Rufus started to grin.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Reeve's voice broke his train of thought.

"Hm? Oh, yes I'm fine." Rufus pulled his eyes away from his glass and looked over at Reeve.

Reeve looked at him with a bit of worry plastered on his face, he then waited till Scarlet and Heidegger went back to chatting before he motioned a Turk over.

"Reno would you escort the Vice President to his apartment?" Reeve said bearly over a whisper.

Reno gave a slight nod and tried to help Rufus to his feet, but Rufus pushed his hand away and walked out of the restaurant fairly graceful. Nobody looked at him strangely, so that was good. Reno followed closely just incase he fell off course, and opened the limo door for him. Rufus stepped quietly inside and sat down, then quickly moved over as Reno pushed him further.

"Hitting the alcohol a little hard tonight?" he sprawled out in the seat.

Rufus glared, "That's none of your business."

Reno grinned and leaned back, "Have you ever considered getting laid?"

"Have you ever considered growing a brain? My sex life has nothing to do with my getting drunk. I'm just a bit overwhelmed at the moment. Now if you'd remain quiet I could think this through."

He shrugged and looked out the window sitting quietly for a moment, "You know it's been a while maybe you need to vent? Always makes me feel better."

Rufus rubbed his temples and tried to avoid the subject, "What ever happened to Rhett and Randy?"

"Well, Randy got injured real bad and had to leave, then dad figured Shinra wasn't the same with him and quit shortly after he went to go work somewhere else."

Rufus just listened as Reno rattled on, it was good he was so easily distracted. Maybe now he could think about straightening his life.

Reno got silent then stopped the driver, "Alright if you don't wanna talk about it, then there's one simple solution."

Then again maybe there's more to Reno then everyone thought. He watched Reno leave the car and then return a few minutes later.

Reno held up a case of beer, "Alcohol has been known to help. "

Rufus opened his mouth to object but closed it again figuring maybe tonight he should just let it all drown away. He'd worry about everything thing tomorrow. The limo came to a stop in front of his apartment building and Reno opened the car door for him and slowly they made their way up to his place. Rufus groped the wall until he found the light switch then kicked off his shoes and threw his coat on the nearest chair. Reno had also made himself semi comfortable and collapsed on the nearest chair. Then the alcohol began to flow again, after the beer was gone they had raided the kitchen for Rufus' wine collection. Eventually, they began to relax a bit more.

"You know..." Rufus was staring at the empty bottle leaning on his leg, "I don't think I'm cut out to be Vice President. He never listens to me all he does it abuse me mentally, not only that but I want to kill Palmer. My life is going down the hole I don't think I can wait for my father to die."

Reno watched him quietly from his chair for a while before speaking up, "You'll do a great job, I've got a hunch your father won't last much longer. Not the way he's pissing you off," he swung his legs over the arm of the chair "Don't let it bother you he treats everyone like crap, I mean sure you've been taking it your entire life, but there are worse off people than you. Just stay on the bright side."

Rufus glared at him, "The bright side...right. I don't see how drinking helps me at all."

Reno grinned, "I said I had a solution I never said who's, you can't keep all this crap bottled up."

Rufus shrugged and went back to his drink and let it slowly take control of him. Morning quickly came and with it came a loud knocking on the door. The knocking was then replaced by the happy face of Tseng who gladly opened the curtains. Rufus tried to remain as still as possible hoping the nausea would pass, but instead he found himself running to the bathroom. Shortly thereafter he flopped back down in to his chair and looked out the window. Perhaps, he just needed to swallow his pride and just wait. After showering and getting ready he turned and looked at Tseng.

"How am I doing?"

Tseng smiled, "Your doing great, sir."

* * *

**Author's Note:** When in doubt talk it out! As you can tell by now I'm running low on brain power. So I'm making the official announcement Chapter eight is the final chapter. Weird, ending on my lucky number...ah well the last chapter is kinda planned out in my head. Another off note, I'm sure you can tell the difference between the first chapter and the rest of the story (at least I can), this is due to the fact that this story was started -counts on fingers- five years ago.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Dark Nation padded quietly along side Rufus observing his every move. Rufus leaned against the corner of the building breathing hard clutching his shotgun. The day had started fairly well, that was until a group of unknown people attacked his car. The few guards with him were severely injured or dead. Unfortunately, he was unfamiliar with Junon's layout.

Rufus had arrived in Junon about a week ago, but had been busy with meetings and such the entire time he didn't truly have anytime to look around. It was getting to be late and the meeting was put on break for an hour and he figured that he would leave the meeting building to go get something to eat but, that plan was obviously shattered to pieces with the current attack.

He slowly and carefully peeked his head around the corner, one of the men was approaching. He grinned as the man came around the corner and met the butt of his shotgun. The guy crumbled to the ground and Rufus grabbed his weapon, throwing it behind a trash bin. The sound of footsteps echoed in his ear, glancing down at his companion and giving a brief nod. The beast crouched, then quickly motioned towards him, a soft light embraced Rufus then vanished quickly from sight. He darted out from the building firing into the unsuspecting men, they returned fire some of the bullets harmlessly bouncing off the barrier. One of the men, shielded by a few of the others made a brief motion of his hand and Rufus was struck by a sudden rush of cold air, bracing himself as much as possible before he was pelted with a shower of ice. The others took the distraction to rush him, however they were quickly intercepted by Dark Nation who had leapt upon one of them biting them firmly on the neck. The men stopped their rush attack retreating some. Rufus stepped back ready to fire upon the crowd, but noticed a large vehicle approaching. The Shinra logo plastered on the side brought him a sigh of relief. Quickly, a dozen or so guards bursted out surrounding the enemies with fully loaded machine guns. Rufus lowered his shotgun as a Captain quickly approached him.

He turned his head glaring at the man as he saluted, "What took you so long?"

The man dropped his salute, "Sorry sir, there's quite a bit of road construction we had to go around it."

Rufus pushed some of his hair out of his face, watching as friend and foe alike were tended. A woman motioned to one of the dead guards and he was taken away. She then noticed Rufus looking at her and quickly took the moment to run over and checked his wounds, holding a hand over one of the bleeding areas her hand began glowing a faint green the wound slowly knitting back together.

Content with the woman's work he looked back to at Captain, "These men were ill-prepared I hope this situation doesn't happen in the future."

Again the man saluted, "My apologizes, sir. It won't happen again sir."

Even though the guys hat blocked most of his face he could tell his eyes were glaring at him. It wasn't as though Rufus really cared though, he walked away to the new vehicle that awaited him climbing inside he leaned his head against the back of the seat.

The driver looked back at him, "Sir?"

He kept his eyes close and motioned with his hand, "Just, take me home. I need to rest."

Trudging up to his temporary home he quickly stripped down and got into bed. He found himself staring at the ceiling, unable to go to sleep at the moment. Pushing today's events into the back of his mind for later he focused on the silence around him and eventually found sleep.

--

Rufus laid in a comfortable sleep, lulled there by the sounds of city ambience. His PHS that sat quietly on his table rang disturbing him from his slumber. Glancing over at the table something gnawed at his stomach telling him this wasn't a normal call. A disoriented hand grabbed it and turned it on he slowly put it to his ear.

"...Yes?" his voice calm.

"Sir? Sorry to disturb you so late, but there's been an incident at HQ. We belief that it was raided by Sephiroth. The Jenova specimen is missing, but luckily there doesn't seem to be many casualties..." the voice on the other end trailed off.

"Have you sent out a search team? Is there any contamination spilt?" his groggy sleep ridden body quickly jolted awake.

"Well we have sent out the search team but nothing has turned up it is as though both of them vanished. There was no contamination plenty of damage but within the week we should have everything cleaned up and back to normal."

"So why are you calling me at this forsaken hour? The president should still be there." he glared annoyed at his covers.

"It's the president, he's been killed."

Rufus stopped everything, thinking over and over what the man said to him. Dead. His father was dead. How long had he waited for this moment, but now that it came...

"I see. I will be there shortly have a helicopter sent to pick me up." he turned off the PHS setting it down he stared blankly at the floor.

Getting dressed quickly he left the room and decided on taking the stairs to the roof. His father was dead...his father was dead...his father...was dead. Was he happy? It didn't feel like it, was he upset? He couldn't tell anymore, what was he feeling? Nothing? Was this the end of years of abuse? Did it even still continue? Everything was over, and he didn't care in the least bit. Not a single tear was shed for him. Not a smile reached his face on his accession to presidency. He felt nothing as he opened the door to the rooftop. Watching the helicopter touch down and the guards rush over to quickly help him inside. He sat down on the leather seat watching blankly out the window. The city lights quickly disappeared from sight replaced by utter darkness. The torment was over, and Shinra was finally his, finally he got all he wanted.

_Well father, it's my turn now. I'll show you how to truly run this world._

They landed in Midgar within the hour, Rufus quickly stepped out seeing unfamiliar people quickly running outside. Palmer ran up gasping and panting looking extremely scared.

"T-the president was killed he...!" he stuttered out.

"So...Sephiroth was actually here...by the way..." he turned his attention away from Palmer who ran to the helicopter seeking shelter to the five that approached him.

"Who are you guys?"

* * *

**Afternote: **Well, I'm finally done. I like this chapter I like the way it turned out. So ends this story...finally. Thank you to all my reviewers. I think I would have stopped posting if I wouldn't have had you. Now I finally have time to work on my original stories. If I ever decide to write another fanfic, I think I'd like to do it for FF6, or 9...because I think that 7 is over...done? Funny, it's really easy to write for but it's not my favorite. I prefer ff6...but ANYWAY. THANK YOU ALL!


End file.
